Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Xenocyprinae
Genus: Hypophthalmichthys Nobilis
What is an Invasive Species, and Why Are They Bad?
An invasive species is a non-native animal, which means that its natural habitat
isn’t in Canada, using the bighead carp as an example, but natural habitat should
be in Asia. The bighead carps’ introduction to the environment is likely to damage
or cause harm to human, animal, or plant health. This can be bad because some
animals shouldn't be introduced to new predators or different prey. This could
mess up the food chain and cause some animals to die off, and even go extinct.
What's its Preferred Habitat?
Bighead carp are extremely hardy and can adapt to many temperatures. This fish
likes to breed and gather in freshwater environments like bodies of water that
range from moderate to large rivers and lakes. They are known to prefer areas of
slow current and depths of more than 6 feet. The Bighead Carp is active in cold
water and begin to feed at water temperatures above 3°C, preferring temperatures
of 4°C to 26°C. This means that the Bighead Carp prefers cold water. Although the
Bighead Carp is invasive to Canada, they originate from, China, and far-eastern
Russia.
What's its Design and Build?
A bighead carp is built like any other fish. It has a pelvic fin that stabilizes the fish
while swimming and allows for up-and-down movement in the water. It also has a
dorsal fin which makes swimming easier by stabilizing the fish but also slows the
fish down. The anal fin stabilizes the fish from the bottom while swimming, just like
the dorsal fin. The only thing that sets these carp from the rest, are its
facial area. Unlike normal fish, it has no barbels, which is a small
sensory organ. The bighead carps’ eyes are below
the center of their body, making the bighead
carp have a large forehead, giving this fish
its name. These fish also can be called Asian
Carp because of where they are native to.
What Does it Look Like?
Bighead Carp is a wide fish with a large toothless mouth and very big head. Their
eyes are small and rest forward and low on their big heads, well below the center
of their body. Their scales are dark gray near the top, and ombre to a cream-color
below with dark gray and black blotches on the back and sides.
My Drawing
What Are its Structural and Behavioural Adaptations?
One structural adaptation is that they are very hardy species and tolerant to
temperatures from 4-26℃, bighead carp can adapt to many freshwater
environments. Bighead carp don’t have a real stomach, which causes them to eat
constantly. Long, comb-like gill rakers allow the bighead carp to strain and eat
planktonic organisms (plankton) from the water. Gill rakers are made of bone or
cartilage which processes then project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are a
helpful adaptation when feeding on tiny prey. One of the behavioural adaptation is
that the big headed carp like to school, which means that these fish form large
groups and swim together to protect themselves against predators even though
they are top of the food chain in Canada.
What Does it Eat?
Bighead Carp have a heavy appetite and consume a wide range of zooplankton,
detritus and small invertebrates. Because they eat so much, they are
outcompeting native fish in Canada for food.
How Does it Affect Canada?
The bighead carp effects Canada by, depriving the other fish in the lakes that they
feed by consuming all of the food and polluting our lakes with an excessive
amount of body waste. This species are planktivorous, meaning they eat large
amounts of plankton, but, the Bighead Carp mainly consumes zooplankton and
other small invertebrates. Because many of Canada’s native fish species rely on
plankton as a food source while growing, there is a risk for competition between
the bigheaded carps and the native fish. Also, Bighead carps filter large amounts
of plankton out of the water faster and more efficient than native fishes. This has
the potential to cause a large decrease in plankton and other small food sources
that can be found in the lakes of Canada.
Invasion and How to Prevent it
Determined through habitat matching, bigheaded carps would be able to survive in
all of Canada’s Lakes. The environmental conditions of the Great Lakes are warm
and suitable enough for bigheaded carps to survive. There are some ways to
prevent, monitor, and detect bighead carps like, the electric barrier in Chicago,
surveillance with traditional gears (which are electrofishing, netting) another form
of surveillance is the environmental DNA (eDNA). Currently, the eDNA is used as
an early detection method. It can detect genetic material that has been produced
by organisms into their environment. For example a piece of waste from a bighead
carp.
Links!
https://www.asiancarp.ca/asian-carps/bighead-carp/

https://www.asiancarp.ca/impacts/risk-assessments/ecological-risk-assessment-for-bighead-and-silver-carps/

https://express.adobe.com/tools/remove-background

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighead_carp

https://www.google.com/search?q=bighead+carp&rlz=1CABBMB_enCA941&sxsrf=APwXEdcVWTqDoawBWvnXFhRkSeBP1x54pQ:168445
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https://www.google.com/?safe=active&ssui=on